The 1950s were overrated!

[Pogo]

The 1950's had great music, cars, films but society did not grow, people lived in fear of nuclear war. People seemed to be resting and recovering from WWII. The positive and the negatives seem to mirror just about any era.

Alex, I respect your opinion - but that isn't even close to the way I remember it - except for the concern over nuclear war. The America I knew prospered in the 1950s - and 1960s. Google it.

Those two sentiments are not mutually exclusive. Yes there was lots of "prosperity" (on the surface anyway) and at the same time, I agree with Alex, there was a continuous cloak of fear in the air. People were literally digging fallout shelters for the end times, watching the skies, listening for air raid sirens, which were everywhere, and every radio had two emblems at 640 and 1240 designating where to tune when the Bomb came. And of course we all mocked the evil Commies and their propaganda state, oblivious to the fact that we were doing the same thing.

​

Then of course there was the racial disparity simmering that would bubble over in the next decade..

 

[Alex.]

The 1950's had great music, cars, films but society did not grow, people lived in fear of nuclear war. People seemed to be resting and recovering from WWII. The positive and the negatives seem to mirror just about any era.

Alex, I respect your opinion - but that isn't even close to the way I remember it - except for the concern over nuclear war. The America I knew prospered in the 1950s - and 1960s. Google it.

I am not talking about the economy I am talking about society in general.

"During the 1950s, a sense of uniformity pervaded American society. Conformity was common, as young and old alike followed group norms rather than striking out on their own. Though men and women had been forced into new employment patterns during World War II, once the war was over, traditional roles were reaffirmed. Men expected to be the breadwinners; women, even when they worked, assumed their proper place was at home. Sociologist David Riesman observed the importance of peer-group expectations in his influential book, The Lonely Crowd. He called this new society "other-directed," and maintained that such societies lead to stability as well as conformity. Television contributed to the homogenizing trend by providing young and old with a shared experience reflecting accepted social patterns."

United States History - The Culture of the 1950s

 

[Vandalshandle]

Sorry Lakota, but Ricky Nelson's only claim to fame was that he was another guy who looked kind of like Elvis. he had no talent, and his totally stone faced covers of songs that people like Fats Domino made hits of was pathetic. The only thing good that I can say about him is that Ozzie Nelson created the world's first music video with this song (skip to the middle of the video. It has two versions of the song. The second one was the first music video as it came to be known):


I remember all of the 50's and, as it has been posted here, they sucked. The conformity required of the time was enough to label you a juvenile delinquent if you wore a pair of jeans to school (in fact, they were banned). The commie witch hunt was completely out of control, and the country was definitely leaning toward fascism. Even JFK was telling us to build fallout shelters. I grew up in a safe, segregated white Anglo-Saxon suburban environment in the deep South. Blacks were invisible, if they existed at all, Nobody wanted to live anywhere near a Jew, and even Catholics were only barely tolerated. The KKK was having public cross burnings on Stone Mountain, while somebody blew up a bomb in front of the Jewish Temple on Peachtree Street. The only black guy who worked in the grocery I worked in was fired for drinking out of the water cooler, without using his cup. My little suburban paradise was a Cleaver family dream, but behind the scenes, every house had a secret. The teenaged kid down the street who was supposed to be visiting grandma, was actually in Mexico getting an abortion. The doctor across the street beat is wife regularly. The lady next door had a drinking problem, and us kids would raid her trash cans for liquor bottles for target practice with our BB guns. My brother was arrested for "Occupying a dive", which was actually a coffee house where beatniks read poetry. there was no alcohol or drugs found in the raid. McCarthy was happily destroying careers everywhere, until everybody had had enough. One of my classmates and neighbors shot himself as the cops were coming to arrest him for being part of a car theft ring. My brother was forced to marry the girl he got pregnant, which marriage only lasted 6 years. my step father was an alcoholic, so none of my friends ever saw the inside of my house.

The 1950's was nothing but a façade. The main difference between then and today was that everything unpleasant was hidden. It still existed.

I still remember a school bus stopping in front of a black shanty town across the street from my high school, to pick up kids and bussing them to a "colored school" 5 miles away. I did not see a black face in school until my freshman year in college, and then there were only 3 of them out of 10,000 students. Oh, and BTW, the only reason that girls went to college was to catch a husband.

 

[Rikurzhen]

The 1950's had great music, cars, films but society did not grow, people lived in fear of nuclear war. People seemed to be resting and recovering from WWII. The positive and the negatives seem to mirror just about any era.

Alex, I respect your opinion - but that isn't even close to the way I remember it - except for the concern over nuclear war. The America I knew prospered in the 1950s - and 1960s. Google it.

Those two sentiments are not mutually exclusive. Yes there was lots of "prosperity" (on the surface anyway) and at the same time, I agree with Alex, there was a continuous cloak of fear in the air. People were literally digging fallout shelters for the end times, watching the skies, listening for air raid sirens, which were everywhere, and every radio had two emblems at 640 and 1240 designating where to tune when the Bomb came. And of course we all mocked the evil Commies and their propaganda state, oblivious to the fact that we were doing the same thing.

​

Then of course there was the racial disparity simmering that would bubble over in the next decade..

And WHY were we doing that? Because liberal commie sympathizers stole nuclear secrets and gave them to the Soviet Union.

At the the heart of all evil you'll find a liberal.

 

[Lakhota]

torry Lakota, but Ricky Nelson's only claim to fame was that he was another guy who looked kind of like Elvis. he had no talent, and his totally stone faced covers of songs that people like Fats Domino made hits of was pathetic. The only thing good that I can say about him is that Ozzie Nelson created the world's first music video with this song (skip to the middle of the video. It has two versions of the song. The second one was the first music video as it came to be known):


I remember all of the 50's and, as it has been posted here, they sucked. The conformity required of the time was enough to label you a juvenile delinquent if you wore a pair of jeans to school (in fact, they were banned). The commie witch hunt was completely out of control, and the country was definitely leaning toward fascism. Even JFK was telling us to build fallout shelters. I grew up in a safe, segregated white Anglo-Saxon suburban environment in the deep South. Blacks were invisible, if they existed at all, Nobody wanted to live anywhere near a Jew, and even Catholics were only barely tolerated. The KKK was having public cross burnings on Stone Mountain, while somebody blew up a bomb in front of the Jewish Temple on Peachtree Street. The only black guy who worked in the grocery I worked in was fired for drinking out of the water cooler, without using his cup. My little suburban paradise was a Cleaver family dream, but behind the scenes, every house had a secret. The teenaged kid down the street who was supposed to be visiting grandma, was actually in Mexico getting an abortion. The doctor across the street beat is wife regularly. The lady next door had a drinking problem, and us kids would raid her trash cans for liquor bottles for target practice with our BB guns. My brother was arrested for "Occupying a dive", which was actually a coffee house where beatniks read poetry. there was no alcohol or drugs found in the raid. McCarthy was happily destroying careers everywhere, until everybody had had enough. One of my classmates and neighbors shot himself as the cops were coming to arrest him for being part of a car theft ring. My brother was forced to marry the girl he got pregnant, which marriage only lasted 6 years. my step father was an alcoholic, so none of my friends ever saw the inside of my house.

The 1950's was nothing but a façade. The main difference between then and today was that everything unpleasant was hidden. It still existed.

I still remember a school bus stopping in front of a black shanty town across the street from my high school, to pick up kids and bussing them to a "colored school" 5 miles away. I did not see a black face in school until my freshman year in college, and then there were only 3 of them out of 10,000 students. Oh, and BTW, the only reason that girls went to college was to catch a husband.

I was born in 1946. We each have our memories. Ricky Nelson was great.

 

[Vandalshandle]

"I was born in 1946. We each have our memories. Ricky Nelson was great."

Let me guess. In 1964, you had decided that the Beatles were "Fab"

 

[Lakhota]

"I was born in 1946. We each have our memories. Ricky Nelson was great."

Let me guess. In 1964, you had decided that the Beatles were "Fab"

Yep, I watched them live on the Ed Sullivan Show (February 9, 1964) while holding hands with my steady on her parents' sofa. They were awesome! So was much of the British invasion. However, I didn't forsake my American rockers - who still reign supreme in my memories. I would have been fine without the British invasion. Motown was hot. I enjoyed slow dancing to Ray Charles.

 

[Old Rocks]

The 1950's had great music, cars, films but society did not grow, people lived in fear of nuclear war. People seemed to be resting and recovering from WWII. The positive and the negatives seem to mirror just about any era.

Alex, I respect your opinion - but that isn't even close to the way I remember it - except for the concern over nuclear war. The America I knew prospered in the 1950s - and 1960s. Google it.

I am not talking about the economy I am talking about society in general.

"During the 1950s, a sense of uniformity pervaded American society. Conformity was common, as young and old alike followed group norms rather than striking out on their own. Though men and women had been forced into new employment patterns during World War II, once the war was over, traditional roles were reaffirmed. Men expected to be the breadwinners; women, even when they worked, assumed their proper place was at home. Sociologist David Riesman observed the importance of peer-group expectations in his influential book, The Lonely Crowd. He called this new society "other-directed," and maintained that such societies lead to stability as well as conformity. Television contributed to the homogenizing trend by providing young and old with a shared experience reflecting accepted social patterns."

United States History - The Culture of the 1950s

That was the way it was. On the surface. Underneath, a storm was brewing in many areas. Men like the Tuskeegee Airmen came home, and no longer accepted the slot others believed they should occupy base solely on the color of their skin. Children of the men that had gone to war against the great injustices in Asia and Europe, saw the injustices and cultural straightjackets here at home, and rebeled, creating the glorious sixties. And the rest is history.

 

[Lakhota]

Anyone remember the Amos 'n' Andy Show (1951-1953)? Funny stuff.

Amos and Andy Dealing with being Gay in the 1950s.mp4 - YouTube

 

[Pogo]

Sorry Lakota, but Ricky Nelson's only claim to fame was that he was another guy who looked kind of like Elvis. he had no talent, and his totally stone faced covers of songs that people like Fats Domino made hits of was pathetic. The only thing good that I can say about him is that Ozzie Nelson created the world's first music video with this song (skip to the middle of the video. It has two versions of the song. The second one was the first music video as it came to be known):


I remember all of the 50's and, as it has been posted here, they sucked. The conformity required of the time was enough to label you a juvenile delinquent if you wore a pair of jeans to school (in fact, they were banned). The commie witch hunt was completely out of control, and the country was definitely leaning toward fascism. Even JFK was telling us to build fallout shelters. I grew up in a safe, segregated white Anglo-Saxon suburban environment in the deep South. Blacks were invisible, if they existed at all, Nobody wanted to live anywhere near a Jew, and even Catholics were only barely tolerated. The KKK was having public cross burnings on Stone Mountain, while somebody blew up a bomb in front of the Jewish Temple on Peachtree Street. The only black guy who worked in the grocery I worked in was fired for drinking out of the water cooler, without using his cup. My little suburban paradise was a Cleaver family dream, but behind the scenes, every house had a secret. The teenaged kid down the street who was supposed to be visiting grandma, was actually in Mexico getting an abortion. The doctor across the street beat is wife regularly. The lady next door had a drinking problem, and us kids would raid her trash cans for liquor bottles for target practice with our BB guns. My brother was arrested for "Occupying a dive", which was actually a coffee house where beatniks read poetry. there was no alcohol or drugs found in the raid. McCarthy was happily destroying careers everywhere, until everybody had had enough. One of my classmates and neighbors shot himself as the cops were coming to arrest him for being part of a car theft ring. My brother was forced to marry the girl he got pregnant, which marriage only lasted 6 years. my step father was an alcoholic, so none of my friends ever saw the inside of my house.

The 1950's was nothing but a façade. The main difference between then and today was that everything unpleasant was hidden. It still existed.

I still remember a school bus stopping in front of a black shanty town across the street from my high school, to pick up kids and bussing them to a "colored school" 5 miles away. I did not see a black face in school until my freshman year in college, and then there were only 3 of them out of 10,000 students. Oh, and BTW, the only reason that girls went to college was to catch a husband.

I think you might be thinking of Pat Boone with the Fats Domino covers. Ricky Nelson wasn't talentless; he could play a bit and after all came from a musical background. But the rest of the post after that is I think spot on.



Just for the record, pun intended, I believe the first actual "music video", the one that actually created MTV and created the concept, was this one, 1977:

​

 

[Rikurzhen]

The commie witch hunt was completely out of control, and the country was definitely leaning toward fascism.

How are we supposed to interpret that comment? Of course, commie-lite guys like you think the commie hunt was out of control. That doesn't tell us anything useful. The recently declassified Venona Cables show the substance behind the hunt. Deep penetration of US institutions.

Even JFK was telling us to build fallout shelters. I grew up in a safe, segregated white Anglo-Saxon suburban environment in the deep South.

As compared to the suburban environment that the Clintons call home?

There were 3,181 housing units at an average density of 130.9/km² (339.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 91.80% White, 0.94% African American,​

My little suburban paradise was a Cleaver family dream, but behind the scenes, every house had a secret. The teenaged kid down the street who was supposed to be visiting grandma, was actually in Mexico getting an abortion. The doctor across the street beat is wife regularly. The lady next door had a drinking problem, and us kids would raid her trash cans for liquor bottles for target practice with our BB guns. My brother was arrested for "Occupying a dive", which was actually a coffee house where beatniks read poetry. there was no alcohol or drugs found in the raid.

Thank the Lord that we don't have those problems anymore. Now we just deal with stuff like the star of Glee overdosing on heroin, gangster rap moguls getting gunned down, people snorting coke before they go to pick up their kids at school. Much better.

The 1950's was nothing but a façade. The main difference between then and today was that everything unpleasant was hidden. It still existed.

Better to keep personal tragedy private than to construct an Oprah culture where all this dysfunction is celebrated and used as entertainment and actually shapes the culture.

I still remember a school bus stopping in front of a black shanty town across the street from my high school, to pick up kids and bussing them to a "colored school" 5 miles away. I did not see a black face in school until my freshman year in college, and then there were only 3 of them out of 10,000 students.

What was so easy to achieve back then now costs parents an arm and a leg to achieve. How is that better?

Oh, and BTW, the only reason that girls went to college was to catch a husband.

You think that times have changed? This issue is now more widespread. The rise of assortative mating is actually genetically stratifying society. The days of a lawyer marrying his secretary are over. There was more class mixing and more importantly, cognitive mixing, going on back then. Now we have a male physician marrying a female physician, not the female nurse. The most intelligent men and women in society marry each other, generally speaking, and their kids are born with what they inherit from their intelligent parents. As this sorting is taking place it's becoming more and more difficult to find the smart kids in the lower classes and this is slowing down upward mobility in society, creating political tensions as a result.

 

[francoHFW]

I'll go with the 70's, before Reaganism wrecked the country...at least now they can fix it....and I don't mean the new bs GOP.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

Say what you want, I'll take that era over this one any day.

Attitudes were better then. Entertainment is better now.

 

[Vandalshandle]

Yep, I watched them live on the Ed Sullivan Show (February 9, 1964) while holding hands with my steady on her parents' sofa. They were awesome! So was much of the British invasion. However, I didn't forsake my American rockers - who still reign supreme in my memories. I would have been fine without the British invasion. Motown was hot. I enjoyed slow dancing to Ray Charles.

Ray Charles was the very best. I have arelative who played in his band, and he has great stories!

 

[Rikurzhen]

Say what you want, I'll take that era over this one any day.

Attitudes were better then. Entertainment is better now.

I agree, attitudes seem better back then, and even entertainment seems pretty good too. I wouldn't say entertainment today is better, I'd say technology allows for more spectacle. It's great to be able to bring The Transformers to the screen, but if there's a story anywhere within a mile of that movie, I've yet to find it. Entertainment is being severely dumbed down. I can't imagine "Inherit the Wind" being made today. Just one example. Too talky. Not enough shit blown up.

 

[Vandalshandle]

"I think you might be thinking of Pat Boone with the Fats Domino covers. Ricky Nelson wasn't talentless; he could play a bit and after all came from a musical background."

nope. here is Rick's lackluster effort that became a hit, of "I'm Walkin"



Be careful. It is more effective than Sominex....

 

[Vandalshandle]

How are we supposed to interpret that comment? Of course, commie-lite guys like you think the commie hunt was out of control. "

Rik, it really is not necessary for you to insult me by calling me a commie. In fact, it actually takes away your credibility on these boards. Grow up.

 

[Pogo]

"I think you might be thinking of Pat Boone with the Fats Domino covers. Ricky Nelson wasn't talentless; he could play a bit and after all came from a musical background."

nope. here is Rick's lackluster effort that became a hit, of "I'm Walkin"



Be careful. It is more effective than Sominex....

One song does not a trend make. I believe that's the only Fats song he ever did, and it wasn't a "hit", it was a B-side. On his first single.

 

[Pogo]

How are we supposed to interpret that comment? Of course, commie-lite guys like you think the commie hunt was out of control. "

Rik, it really is not necessary for you to insult me by calling me a commie. In fact, it actually takes away your credibility on these boards. Grow up.

You can't subtract from Zero... just sayin'.

 

[Rikurzhen]

How are we supposed to interpret that comment? Of course, commie-lite guys like you think the commie hunt was out of control. "

Rik, it really is not necessary for you to insult me by calling me a commie. In fact, it actually takes away your credibility on these boards. Grow up

I purposely didn't call you a commie. This distinction may not mean much to you, but I wanted to stress the association between liberals and commies. The spy rings weren't recruiting John Birch Society members to spy for the Soviet Union, they were recruiting liberals. Many of your posts keep harping about the efforts to run to ground the infiltration of communists into American institutions and frankly, knowing what has been released due to de-classification, I say good for the commie-hunters. You on the other hand seem to have a lot of sympathy for American communists and accused communists and speak of this activity as a black mark on society.

Would commie sympathizer be more accurate than commie-lite? If so, I'm fine with making the substitution.